It's estimated that a fourth of transportation emissions come from medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Combined with decarbonization targets and tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and California's own mandate to eliminate new purchases of diesel trucks by 2040, there is a federal and state push to decarbonize trucking.
The regulatory incentives are aiding the rising market demand, as automakers like Ford, Volvo, and General Motors (through its subsidiary Brightdrop) have begun to offer medium-to-heavy electric vehicles.
Still, commerical fleet companies still need a hand with the transition, from choosing the right vehicle, navigating the high upfront cost, and working with utilities to building necessary infrastructure, understanding the risks of trasitioning, and designing a roadmap to complete decarbonization.
That's where Revolv comes in, a San Francisco-based startup that helps commercial trucking fleets overcome the barriers to electric vehicle adoption, working toward what they call "the future of fleets."
Revolv takes care of everything; once hired, they acquire vehicles, install charging infrastructure, handle maintenance, and manage the charging. Their customers range from 20-vehicle fleets, to companies in need of a 1,000 vehicle transition.
"There are striking barriers to fleets: cost complexity and risk,” Revolv CEO Scott Davidson said via Axios. “We provide assurance for the fleet that it’s up and running.”
The startup just raised $15 million in Series A funding, which was led by by an affiliated fund of Greenbacker Capital Management, a firm that invests in sustainable infrastructure.
According to the company, they are on track to deliver over 100 vehicles ranging from the medium Class 2 through the heavy Class 8 by the end of 2023. Most of these vehicles will be California due to the state's incentives.
Revolv also has plans to scale and manage a fleet of vehicles in the "thousands" by the following years.
"Businesses seeking to decarbonize their fleets are facing several challenges: an unpredictable supply chain, rapidly changing technology, complex regulatory regimes and infrastructure upgrades, amongst other logistical impediments," Davidson said in a statement.
"Revolv's approach to activating businesses to decarbonize their fleets is to meet customers wherever they operate, providing our customers with single partner solutions to future-proof their business."